Vee

People give her too much stick based on poor writing, IMO. Yes, I'd take Sarah back anyday but Laura has always done great work. She has never given a show she's on less than 100% and often goes over that.

Kim Zimmer (GL) and son Jake Weary (Luke, ATWT) appear in the trailer for Ewan McGregor and his daughter's new film. Kim looks like she's having a lot of fun.

I think he's worked very hard and done a very good job. I'm just not sure there is a future for Nikolas as a dynamic player with him in the role, and I am still inclined to retire the character with Tyler gone.

Oh, I waited almost a week to see if you would demand anyone leave the thread for disagreeing with you, as is your brand.

And should, as Port Charles once told us, Miracles Happen, a non-Trump VP can't win.

Perhaps we can pause to consider the irony of preaching independent thinking when for years some folks have turned up mostly to rail against anyone not enjoying these shows and suggesting anyone "too critical" leave the thread. Also, it was a two day memorial, not four.

If you can accept it as a substitute for onscreen intimacy or any other character building, then sure. Golden Girls and other gay pop culture TV cliches were the language the GH gays spoke in during that era. I don't think Lucas and Felix ever had an actual relationship. They danced around it at best during Ron's tenure, but ultimately Lucas got and stayed for many years with Brad, who was supposed to be the spoiler to Lucas and Felix initially.

Not on GH!

I think the Nick plot point on OLTL was unfortunate, but they didn't totally ruin the character over it; he was supposed to continue had they not purged all the gays. I thought it was Brad that tried to force Michael to have sex with him (which made it that much worse when they realized fans liked Shen and trid to sweep it all under the rug with that character). This is something Ron has returned to again and again at DAYS with gay guys and str8 men, you're right, including his love for the endless tease re: Ben and Will in jail and flirting heavily with putting Leo with men he'd already violated or tried to take advantage of. I do think Sabrina and Felix were fairly well-liked early on with their adoration for Lucy, the hospital legacy, etc. up until the actual return of the Nurses Ball, when Sabrina got the Pretty Princess makeover which went over like a lead balloon with the audience. Once Sabrina got everything she wanted (a new look, Patrick) she almost immediately became intolerable to the larger viewer base, Jason Thompson looked like he was on suicide watch and Felix became even more obnoxious than his queen bee. His helpless, aggrieved pouting over Robin's return from the dead ruining his bestie's day will never be forgotten by me. And it was reflected by how Ron treated Robin from then on IMO, even though he clearly enjoyed writing the big reunion. Fine by me! Steve can quit again if he wants!

I liked Felix for quite awhile. I think at times Ron wrote him with sensitivity, though I think he did much better with Kyle and Oliver on OLTL. Then Felix became both too saintly and/or too much of an overbearing cliche - all Ron seemed able to write for the gay characters was 'funny' predatory material or them sublimating sex with Golden Girls reruns or something equally embarrassing and juvenile. That weird mix of stereotypical gay pop culture touchstones or tacky sexual mishaps became their whole range of personality or action. Obviously Ron has overcorrected for this at DAYS, by finally getting to write a villainous, hypersexual character (something I'm all for, in theory) - Leo - but unfortunately that's been paired with his compulsive desire to make all of his edgy villain or antihero characters into the 'real' underdog heroes of a show. Case in point: His clear intent to quasi-redeem Leo and pair him up with Sonny had Zach Tinker not split, and his undying love for Gwen even after she admitted to killing Laura Horton/letting her die. Unlike the wildly divergent material he wrote for the GH gays he's finally getting to display some of his id onscreen, but he still can't write any nuance for it. I still think Jake should be the bisexual one, because Hudson West is a damn good actor. But I digress.

I think that was the plan until fans glommed on to the chemistry Carnes had with Parry Shen - Brad was supposed to be a pervy, predatory day player and Felix was the rooting interest character even before Lucas returned. They moved more towards Brad/Lucas over time and after RC was fired it was dunzo for Felix and his fade. Honestly Lucas is too good for both at this point though.

He was. I thought Ben Hogestyn did a very good job in that period and has never gotten enough credit as Carnes' return overshadowed him - I thought Carnes was a lousy actor in the 2000s even when Russell T. Davies fancied him and brought him over to Doctor Who (something Davies did often with hunks he found hot in those days), and he only impressed me when he returned to GH in the 2010s. I think Carnes is the best Lucas now of course, he's done the work and done well, but I do think Hogestyn fell through the cracks. IIRC they did tease Lucas having a romance in that period in 2006 with a young gay guy named, well, Guy. But it didn't get far. To Frank and Ron's mixed credit, I do think the show pushed him hard for a time as a part of the GH firmament in the early 2010s - Carnes even played Phil Brewer in the flashback sequence in Luke's big psychodrama episode, alongside Jason Thompson as Steve and Becky as Jessie. That active role is how he should've remained, but the show didn't value him enough and Lucas' mostly lousy, tacky storylines with Felix, Brad, etc. were C or occasionally B-plots at best. (And the fact that Carlivati likely thought Lucas and his pet Felix were endgame and that didn't happen was glaring, IMO - Felix has barely been seen since.) Lucas should be back in a key role again today, I agree.

I don't know if you were privy to all this so my apologies, but Leslie had a fall or something in early 2022 IIRC. She was supposed to be back onscreen within months (Leslie/Monica has appeared fairly often in recent years) but a year later she was still MIA. Finally they had Leslie do a voice cameo on the phone with Elizabeth for Epiphany's memorial last spring. Then about a month ago she appeared onscreen briefly in the scenes surrounding Finn's medical malpractice situation. She looked very frail to me, but the show promoted it, knowing fans had been worried. I'm still very concerned, as are we all. Michael has been deep in the Quartermaine bosom for over a decade - working at ELQ, close with the family, close with Sean Kanan's A.J. during his too-brief return in 2012-2014, etc. I find Chad Duell very tired in the role and I think Michael needs a break from the canvas, but I am glad for that sea change that has mostly stuck for the character as part of the Q scene.

That's a country club?? It really does look like a bordello from Moulin Rouge. The Main Street set looks like a kids TV soundstage.

I'd forgotten John Beradino did an on-air mention of Emily McLaughlin's death (though Jessie was only acknowledged briefly two years later), but I'm sure people know this one.

I was very satisfied with Day 2, which made me very satisfied with the show's handling of the tribute overall. Sure, I would've liked Sarah, Tamara, Brad Maule, Tony, Jonathan, etc. But I don't want to be ungrateful for what I thought was another in a series of several strong tribute episodes to departed cast (Sonya Eddy, John Reilly, etc.). Even when the show is a disaster or crushingly boring, they have pulled these off very well over the last several years IMO. You could’ve filled a week with Brighton just interviewing the cast about Jackie, but that wasn't needed. Still, I would’ve maybe done a third day of mostly just her interviewing more people, and in that you could’ve either broken the fourth wall for Sarah, Brad, Tamara, etc. or found some flimsy way to allow them to appear in some other capacity. I even might’ve considered letting Sarah sub in for Laura for part of the scenes with Felicia talking about her early years (theirs was a wonderful dynamic that has never been explored before), the way they did back in 2014 when all 3 Carlys swapped during scenes with Maurice, or maybe let Sarah and Tamara take different parts of Carly's final sendoff to Bobbie alone at the end of the episode before closing on Laura. Still, that's nitpicking at this point. It was a lovely tribute.

A life well lived. RIP.

They have very few writers on staff - or scenes where it's allowed - to not be pure exposition vs. character. The stuff last year with the vets dealing with their emotions over Ryan's death were very good because it was actually rooted in their history together, as they all had a long, dark experience with Ryan going back to '92. But too often stuff is just very basic explainers for the audience.

Who exactly is up on the memorial wall at this point? How far back does it go in recent gratuitous deaths lol. Is Sabrina up there? I assume Kiki is. Is Leyla Mir on there? She died in the line of duty as a surgeon. Emily's on the wall, right? I don't mind Bobbie being involved in helping women and girls in human trafficking. That suits her character IMO. What I don't love is the idea that Carly investigating it will lead to the return of Jason.

@DRW50 It's that time again. Meanwhile:

Yep!

It's been a long time since JFP and Guza just dismissed any offscreen deaths. This team did decent memorials for Sonya Eddy/Epiphany and others in recent years. I wasn't surprised they went for it with Jackie. I'm not thrilled with the current level of flashbacks or returns, but I will give them Day 2 to impress me more as this is supposedly a 2-episode event. I think GH did well with Epiphany/SE. I also thought the memorials for Gail Brown, Peter Hansen and John Reilly were decent, even if the plotlines surrounding them (a mini-WSB caper, Gail's treasure hunt, etc) were goofy. With Sean it was a labor of love built around Reilly's IRL daughter as Sean's daughter, and it was sweet.

Nice to see as I expected, but I still want more.